Flotation process and composition



tube mill.

Patented Feb. e, was.

PATENT @FFHQE.

uurrn srarss CHARLES M. NOKES, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, ASSIGNOR TO EUREKA METAL- LURGICAL COMPANY, OF

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

No Drawing. Application filed March 4,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. Nouns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flotation Processes and Compositions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an inprovement in the flotation process of and composition for recovering values from ore, particularly non-sulfide ores, and among the objects of the invention are to make the desired particles of such ores subject or more amenable to concentration by flotation.

More or less specifically stated, the invention consists in mixing certain addition agents intimately together before introducing them into the pulp, these addit1on agents having the function of assisting in the subsequent flotation action, by acting upon oxidized or non-sulfide ores, or a mixture of sulfide and non-sulfide ores to make the non-sulfide portion float in the subsequent flotation stage, making the lifting oils more effective, etc.

In a typical instance of the use of my process, I employ in the preparation stage, a solid hydrocarbon, such as paraflin, and an alkaline sulfide, such as sodium-sulfide, the ore under treatment being a non-sulfide ore, or a mixture of sulfide and non-sulfide ores. The paraffin and the sodium-sulfide are fused or mixed together at a temperature sufficiently high to permit of the liquefaction of the hydrocarbon. To effect this I may pulverize the, sodium-sulfide to say 100 to 250 mesh. I next melt the paraflin, and then make a paste by' mixing the paraffin and the pulverized sodium-sulfide. This paste, as it cools, solidifies into an apparently homogeneous mass. If this be allowed to solidify without stirring. it becomes hard and flinty and must be pulverized before addition to the tube mill. But stirring seems to give it a more or less granular condition, somewhat lumpy, and suitable when broken into fragments, for the It is introduced into the tube mill along with the ore, to be ground into pulp, or it may be introduced into the pulp 1922. Serial No. 541,207.

after the ore has been ground and passed to emulsifiers.

It should be understood that this mixture is not a froth or scum maker, or lifter, and therefore other oils are added. such as pine oils, to expeditethe formation of a certain amount of froth or scum wherein the particles of the mixture collect and with which they may be removed from the flotation cell. The function of the paraffin-sodium-sulfide mixture is one of preparation, and not one of flotation or frothing. It acts upon non-sulfide or oxidized ores so that in the flotation stage they float, while the gangue remains submerged. Certain lifting oils, like Yaryan pine, which will not lift oxidized ores direct, will do so after the addition of the paraffin mixture. If the lifting oils were omitted, the paraflinsodium-sulfide mixture alone would give flotation in the flotation stage, but the scum would be too sparse to remove with sufficient rapidity; it would be very sparse and very rich, made up of a Vast number of particles of paraflin of minutest size, each one solid and with the mineral particles or values clinging to it.

The amounts of the mixture employed, and the ratios between paraffin and sodium-. sulfide vary. On oxidized copper ores I have used six to ten pounds, per ton of ore, of sodium sulfide. and the same amount of paraffin. On other ore I have used ten pounds of the sodium sulfide and seven and one-half pounds of paraffin. In this case I used thirteen pounds per ton of ore of the lifting oils, etc.

Experiment showed that when the two components of this mixture, that is to say sodium-sulfide and paraflin, were added to the pulp simultaneously or successively but separately, not as good results were obtained as when added'in the way I have indicated. Maximum effectiveness seems to be due to the intimate association of the two components before they are added to the pulp.

I have stated that the mixture may be best accomplished by pulverizing the sodium-sulfide very finely and mixing it with melted paraflin, and at a temperature such that the sodium-sulfide is not fused. If the sodium a tendency to liquate highly and Spraying them into the pulp, .etc.

The process is economical in so far as materials are concerned, because the parafiin and oils may be subsequently recovered by heating with water. I also find that with the use of this mixture demineralization of the pulp is much more rapid. It will be understood that though I have referred specifically to sodium-sulfide and paraffin, I do not intend any these particular materials. I do believethat a solid hydrocarbon is essential, that IS, a hydrocarbon which is in the solid state, or in a state approaching solidity, under the normal temperatures of pulp preparation and flotation. Parafiin and slack wax are examples of such hydrocarbons, but when I mention solid hydrocarbons I mean hydrocarbons having the same or equivalent characteristics for the purposes of my process.

(1, of course, I might use some other reagent than sodium sulfide, provided that it could be employed with a solid hydrocarbon in preparing non-sulfide 'ore for effective flotation. a

The following are examples of the practical application of my invention:

Ewampje No. 1.

500 grams of a silver ore containing manganese was mixed with 500 c. c. of water and a mixture consisting of 2.5 grams of sodium sulfide and 1.75 grams of paraflin, and gram of reconstructed aryan pine oil, ground in a ball mill until 80% of the ore passed an 80-mesh screen.

he pulp was removed from the tube mill and allowed to settle. The'excess water was decanted and the remaining pulpwas poured into a laboratory flotation machine and 1200 c. c. of fresh water added, and also 0.25 grams of reconstructed Yaryan pine oil, and 0.75 grams of a mixture of 50% benzol, 20% reconstructed Yaryan, and 30% P. and E. oil (a petroleum oil). The dilute pulp was then agitated and the concentrates removed.

The ore contained 0.24 ozs. gold, 33.36 ozs. silver, and 4.33% manganese. The concen-' trates assayed 3.50 ozs. gold, 374.0 ozs. silver,- and 4.50% manganese. The tailings assayed silver.

limitation to the use of hydrocarbon, and thereafter mass of intimately 0.04 ozs. gold, 4.96 ozs. silver, showing a recovery of 84.3% of the gold and 87 of the Example 1V 0. 2.

A thoroughly oxidized complex ore gave the following results I 500 grms. of ore were mixed with 500 c. c. of water and a mixture of 2.5 grms. of sodium sulfide and 0.75 grms. of parafli'n and :1; gm. of reconstruc d Yaryan' and 1.25 grms. of P. and E. oil. This mixture was ground in a tube mill for 20 minutes.

The pulp was allowed to settle and the excess water decanted. The remaining pulp was poured into a flotation machine and 1200 c. c. of water added, the pulp agitated and the concentrates removed. The tailings were then separated into sands and slimes, and each product agitated separately in the flotation machine and the concentrates removed.

The complete results are as follows The ore assayed 0.04 ozs. gold, 30.94 ozs. silver, 6.65% lead and 1.63% copper.

The combined concentrates assayed 0.225 ozs. gold, 324.3 ozs. silver, 47.4% lead, and 5.0% copper. The combined final tailings assayedtrace gold, 1.76 ozs. silver, 0.50% lead and 0.31% copper, showing a recovery of 90% gold; 95.0% silver; 93.5% lead and 86.5% copper.

claim:

1. The process of preparing non-sulfide ore for concentration by flotation, which consists in first intimately mixing, in a finely divided state, sodium sulfide and a solid hydrocarbon, and thereafter adding the mixture to finelydivided non-sulfide ore, and

making a pulp including the ore and the mixture.

2. The ,process which consists in first intimately mixing sodium sulfide and asolid including the mixture, in a finely divided and dispersed state, within a pulp of non-sulfide ore.

3. A reagent for use in the flotation of non-sulfide ores, comprising homogenous mixed sodium sulfide and a solid hydrocarbon.

. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES M. N OKES.

Witnesses:

' L. R. MARTINATE, J r., WARREN STRATTON. 

